Join us for our non-fiction book discussion group. This month’s title is the graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. Books are available one month prior to the meeting.
George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's - and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard. They Called Us Enemy is Takei's first-hand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future.
What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? When the world is against you, what can one person do? To answer these questions, George Takei joins co-writers Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime.
Questions? Email discussion leader Susan Gibberman at sgibberman@stdl.org.
You can choose to attend this program in-person or watch online on Zoom. Please indicate your preference when registering. After registering, you will receive a link to the Zoom webinar at least one hour in advance of the program.
Want to switch your attendance preference from online to in-person (or vice versa)? No problem! Just give us a call at (847) 923-3347 and we'll take care of that for you.
TAGS: | Book Discussions |
The Schaumburg Township District Library serves in excess of 134,000 residents in portions of the municipalities Elk Grove Village, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and Streamwood. With over 1 million visitors each year, the library circulates over 2,000,000 items annually and is the second largest public library in the state of Illinois.